Biobanking

The RCSI Biobank is an important facility that provides many researchers in RCSI with clinical samples for their studies. Biobanking is currently divided in to two principal services for the College:

A tissue biobanking service is provided under the direction of Prof Elaine Kay and Dr. Tony O'Grady. This biobank comprises fresh frozen and formalin-fixed tumour and normal breast, colon, prostate, skin and renal tissue samples. An important aim of the tissue biobank is to ensure the availability of high quality, well annotated tissue specimens for research. It underpins ongoing and future translational research projects involving numerous Beaumont Hospital and RCSI clinicians and scientists. It is also a resource for research collaborators in other institutions, including our TRH partners, DCU and Maynooth, and currently facilitates a number of program and project grants from SFI, HRB, Welcome, HEA and the Irish Cancer Society.

A DNA extraction and biobanking service is provided under the governance of Prof. Alice Stanton and Dr. Gianpiero Cavalleri. This service offers processing and short-term storage of DNA from blood and saliva samples. The DNA extraction and biobanking service facilitates a number of grant funded activities from EI, HRB and HEA.

The Dublin Brain Bank (DBB) collaborates with hospitals across Ireland to optimise collection, handling and use of human brain tissue and related samples for the conduct of research into neurological disorders